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This study sought to examine the influence of transcription skills, evaluated using graphonomic measures, on the proficiency of text generation in students attending primary schools in Spain. A longitudinal design was employed involving 278 Spanish students distributed across three cohorts (cohort 1: 1st-2nd-4th grade; cohort 2: 2nd-3rd-5th grade; and cohort 3: 3rd-4th-6th grade). Two data collection points were used to administer the graphonomic measures, and a composition letter task was conducted at the conclusion of the study. Four multigroup structural equation models were employed, examining the direct pathways from graphonomic measures (i.e., pressure, speed, pauses, and road length) on text generation (i.e., length, fluency, planning, revision, and organization). The models demonstrated a good fit to the data. The findings from the four models, analyzed within the three cohorts, indicated that the significant effect of transcription (i.e., handwriting) on text production was primarily observed in Cohort 1 (early grades), while no significant effects were found in Cohort 2 (intermediate grades). This suggests that the importance of handwriting in text production in a transparent orthography may be more pronounced during the initial stages of writing development when students are acquiring foundational writing skills.

To explore the dynamics of processing in manuscript production, it is necessary to possess a system for recording the writer's graphic activity. This work describes the new version of the Eye and Pen program (version 3.01). In addition to the fact that it is now freely available (https://www.eyeandpen.net), the improvements described focus on its use for handwritten word production. First, we give some examples of the new features and improvements included in this new version, e.g., compatibility with previous versions and with other writing dynamics acquisition programs; "in-air" measurements; the choice of driver for timestamping; signal processing tools. The second part is dedicated to the issue of synchronization and temporal precision for the display of stimuli. The material presented here is available on OSF (http://osf.io/afpvz; project Eye and Pen).

Research Findings: Fluent and legible handwriting is associated with longer texts and higher text quality and is therefore an important goal in the primary school curriculum. While girls' handwriting tends to be more proficient than boys', potential differences in the correlates of girls' and boys' early handwriting are poorly understood. In this exploratory study, we investigated early handwriting (legibility, fluency, and time) and potential motor (fine motor skills, visuomotor integration) and cognitive (executive functions: inhibition, shifting, working memory) correlates in a sample of 118 first-grade children (46% girls, M[subscript age]: 7 years, 5 months). We tested gender differences and explored correlates of early handwriting skills of girls and boys. Extending previous findings, fine motor skills and visuomotor integration were related to early handwriting legibility, fluency, and time. Furthermore, shifting and working memory, but not inhibition, were related to specific handwriting skills. Moreover, girls outperformed boys regarding fine motor skills, visuomotor integration, and handwriting legibility. Interestingly, while the correlates of handwriting were diverse and strong for girls, only a few weak correlates were identified for boys. Practice or Policy: These results lay the ground for tailoring adequate interventions to support girls and boys (differently) in acquiring fluent and legible handwriting.

The influence of fonts in marketing education may be underestimated as font usage/selection may benefit both department programs and courses in terms of attracting students and enhancing student learning outcomes. Across four studies, this research examines the effects of handwritten fonts on student inferences from course information. A course description presented in handwritten fonts appears more interesting than information in regular fonts. As a result, students like a course more and show more favorable behavioral intentions when it is described in handwritten fonts. Consistently, handwritten fonts improve recalling performances and student engagement in class activities, further indicating that they attract learners. Implications for understanding the effects in the contexts of student recruitment, course presentation, and pedagogical practice are discussed.

Spelling and handwriting are related skills which are critical for writing but are typically assessed separately. Doing so makes it more difficult to understand their respective development. We describe the creation and evaluation of a tool for their concurrent assessment: the Spelling and Handwriting Legibility Test (SaHLT). We examined whether (a) sentence spelling and handwriting legibility could be reliable and valid, independent measures of English spelling and handwriting legibility and (b) whether spelling and handwriting legibility can be measured concurrently. A total of 1461 primary-aged children (M[subscript age] = 9.14 years-old, SD = 12.80) completed the SaHLT and background tests. The SaHLT was a sensitive, reliable, and valid measure of spelling and handwriting. Multi-group factor analyses revealed the test to be a robust concurrent measure. The SaHLT offers a cost and time saving method of measuring two key skills of writing. This is important for assessments in practice and for furthering our understanding of the relationship between spelling and handwriting.

The effects of transcription skills, comprising both spelling and handwriting fluency, on sentence writing among young Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners were evaluated and compared to those of reading and oral language using a one-year longitudinal study design. Various writing models postulated that transcription skills are essential in early writing development; however, studies have not yet clarified its role in CSL writing alongside other important writing component skills such as reading and oral skills. Participants included 204 primary-school-level CSL learners. These learners were evaluated in copying, spelling, character reading, oral language skills, and sentence writing at the end of the Grades 4 and 5 school year. Regression and path analysis evaluated the direct and indirect effects of the component skills on sentence writing. The results showed that, while controlling for non-verbal reasoning, (1) Time-1 transcription skills predicted sentence writing concurrently and longitudinally, but their influences at Time 2 diminished considerably for the substantial autoregressive effect of writing; (2) character reading predicted sentence writing both at Times 1 and 2, and contributed to spelling development; and (3) compared with transcription and reading, oral language skills weakly influenced writing, which was mediated largely by character reading. The findings suggest that transcription skills are vital constituents of CSL sentence writing and that reading plays a primary role in the reading-writing relationship in this stage.

The automatization of handwriting and typing is sustained by both sensorimotor and linguistic abilities that support the integration of central-linguistic processes with modality-specific peripheral-motor programs. How this integration evolves when handwriting and, especially, typing is not fully automatized has not been well-understood yet. In the present work, we had two main aims: (1) to understand how spelling processing affects handwriting and typing word production in a sample of 9th-grade Italian students who have extensive handwriting practice but less experience with typing, and (2) to unveil if reading and visual-motor integration skills of the writer/typists have a role in integrating spelling processing and motor execution. Thirty-six 9th-grade participants handwrote and typed to dictation words and pseudowords of different lengths and orthographic complexity. To test spelling processing during handwriting and typing, we collected measures of latency (RTs)--i.e. the interval between spoken stimulus availability and starting to write--, of interletter interval mean--i.e., the mean of the intervals between consecutive letters--, and whole response duration--i.e. the execution time of the entire stimulus. We further assessed participants' reading and visual-motor integration skills to analyze their impact on the chronometric measures as a function of the linguistic proprieties of the stimuli. Our findings show a different pattern of processing for handwriting, the automatized process for our participants, and for typing, for which stronger lexical and sublexical effects emerged. Furthermore, reading and visual-motor skills interacted differently with the two transcription modalities unveiling a modality-specific role of individual skills according to the automatization of handwriting and typing.

This study tests a handwriting model for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that displays the relationships between handwriting process and product characteristics, and the predictors of these characteristics. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the model for children and youth with ASD (n = 50) and typically developing peers (n = 50), ages 10 to 15, for a copying and freestyle handwriting task. Findings suggest a generic handwriting model applying to both groups and both handwriting tasks. Unique effects for children and youth with ASD were identified for: (1) high interdependence of handwriting process characteristics; (2) longer pen stroke in air leading to better legibility; and (3) lower scores for executive functions leading to lower scores for legibility.

Progress tests (PT) are a popular type of longitudinal assessment used for evaluating clinical knowledge retention and long-life learning in health professions education. Most PTs consist of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) whose development is costly and time-consuming. Automatic Item Generation (AIG) generates test items through algorithms, promising to ease this burden. However, it remains unclear how AIG-items behave in formative assessment (FA) modalities such as PTs compared to manually written items. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality and validity of AIG-items versus manually written items. Responses to 126 (23 automatically generated) dichotomously scored single best-answer five-option MCQs retrieved from the 2021 University of Minho PT of medicine were analyzed. Procedures based on item response theory (IRT), dimensionality testing, item fit, reliability, differential item functioning (DIF) and distractor analysis were used. Qualitative assessment was conducted through expert review. Validity evidence of AIG-items was assessed by using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). The PT proved to be a viable tool for assessing medical students cognitive competencies. AIG-items were parallel to manually written-items, presenting similar indices of difficulty and information. The proportion of functional distractors for both AIG and manually written items was similar. Evidence of validity for AIG-items was found while showing higher levels of item quality. AIG-items functioned as intended and were appropriate for evaluating medical students at various levels of the knowledge spectrum.

ESL writing teachers face the challenge of providing written feedback that is both effective and motivating to students. Thus, many end up making use of praise (or positive feedback) before offering criticism. Only limited research has examined how students perceive praise, and few studies among the most recent have focused on praise above other types of feedback. Moreover, researchers have not accounted for the effect of person-focused vs. performance-focused praise. We developed an original survey to understand how L2 learners perceive and value person and performance praise in written feedback. A total of 106 adult participants from two language groups (Asian and Romance) and at two English ability levels (intermediate and advanced) rated six different samples of praise based on how clear, helpful, valuable, encouraging to revision, kind, and motivating they found praise comments to be. Ultimately, praise type appeared to be the most significant variable as participants showed preference to performance over person praise. These results can be useful for teachers as they consider how to word statements of praise, particularly in response to student writing.

Educationally-oriented measures of handwriting fluency--tasks such as written alphabet recall and sentence copying--conflate graphomotor skill and various higher-level abilities. Direct measurement of pen control when forming letters requires analysis of pen-tip velocity associated with the production of sub-letter features that, in a skilled handwriter, are typically produced in a single, smooth movement. We provide a segmentation and coding scheme that identifies these features in manuscript letters and gives criteria for whether or not a feature is accurately formed. We demonstrate that, in skilled handwriters, these features are the product of smooth movements: The velocity profiles of adult writers (N = 27 performing a letter-copying task) producing straight-line features and curved features gave modal velocity-peak counts of 1 and 2 respectively. We then illustrate the utility of our segmentation and coding scheme by describing the velocity profiles of beginning writers (176 first grade students with minimal handwriting training). This sample produced the same features with less accuracy and with a substantially greater number of velocity peaks. Inaccurate features tended to be produced more slowly and less fluently.

Although the utilization of mobile technologies has recently emerged in various educational settings, limited research has focused on cognitive load detection in the pen-based learning process. This research conducted two experimental studies to investigate what and how multimodal data can be used to measure and classify learners' real-time cognitive load. The results found that it was a promising method to predict learners' cognitive load by analysing their handwriting, touch gestural and eye-tracking data individually and conjunctively. The machine learning approach used in this research achieved a prediction accuracy of 0.86 area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and 0.85/0.86 sensitivity/specificity by only using handwriting data, 0.93 AUC and 0.93/0.94 sensitivity/specificity by only using touch gestural data, and 0.94 AUC and 0.94/0.95 sensitivity/specificity by using both the touch gestural and eye-tracking data. The results can contribute to the optimization of cognitive load and the development of adaptive learning systems for pen-based mobile learning.

Students must be able to produce legible and fluent text when completing classwork and for exam purposes. Some students, however, present with handwriting difficulties in secondary school. When these are significant, intervention may be necessary or alternatives to handwriting may be offered (e.g. use of a word processor). Little is known about current practice of supporting secondary students with handwriting difficulties in England and how recommendations are made to transition to typing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 practitioners with a responsibility for supporting students with handwriting difficulties. Two themes were identified. The first theme, "doing the right thing," illustrated the tension between practitioners' commitment to supporting students with handwriting difficulties and their uncertainty around what is the "right" approach. The second theme, "influencing practice," described the contextual factors (student and family, school environment and national context) that impact on practitioners' practice and their decision to transition from handwriting to typing. Findings highlight the complexities of supporting this group of students and an urgent need for guidance at a national level to assist best practice. Implications for practice are discussed. Further research examining the effectiveness of handwriting interventions with secondary students and the optimum time to start typing is warranted.

For the effective expression of feelings and thoughts, handwriting should be produced fluently at a certain speed. The aim of this study was to examine the development of handwriting speeds in 4th-8th grade primary and secondary school students in terms of some variables. In line with this aim, answers were sought to the question, "Do 4th-8th grade primary and secondary school students' handwriting speeds differ significantly depending on their grade, gender, hand preference, and handwriting style?" The study was designed in the survey method, and the study group consisted of 322 students attending the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades of primary and secondary school. A form developed by the researchers for all grade levels was used as the data collection tool in the study. In the data collection process, the students were required to copy a given text within one minute. The research results revealed that while the primary and secondary school students' handwriting speeds differed significantly according to their grade level, gender, and handwriting style, they did not differ significantly according to their hand preferences. As the grade level increased, mean handwriting speeds also increased. Female students wrote faster than male students. Students using the manuscript handwriting style wrote faster than students who used the cursive handwriting style.

Background: Learning which letters correspond to which speech sounds is fundamental for learning to read. Based on previous experimental studies, we developed a serious game aiming to boost letter-speech sound (L-SS) correspondences in a motivational game environment. Objectives: The goal of this study was to determine the efficacy of this game in training L-SS correspondences in pre-readers. Additionally, an extended version of the game was developed given the importance of handwriting in audio-visual integration. We established whether including a motoric component in the game boosted the letter-speech sound training on top of the effect of the game without the motoric component. Methods: One-hundred forty-five kindergartners were randomly allocated to play either the standard audio-visual version of the game, the motoric version or a control math game. All children were pre- and post-tested on L-SS knowledge and reading accuracy. Results and conclusions: We found that playing the game enhanced pre-readers' L-SS knowledge, but not reading accuracy, after a short, intensive intervention period of 3 weeks. However, children who played the motoric version of the game did not differ significantly from either the standard or the control condition. Implications: This game was efficient in training L-SS correspondences in pre-readers. These results suggest that this game might be useful as a preventive evidence-based intervention for at-risk children in kindergarten who might benefit from a head start before learning how to read. Future studies are needed to examine whether a longer intervention period results in L-SS knowledge being translated into reading skills.

Math computation is a foundational skill for students developing higher-level mathematics problem-solving skills and represents a primary deficit for students struggling in mathematics. Students with mathematics difficulties also tend to have difficulties with other executive functions. One domain that is systematically part of most mathematical computation tasks but is not directly related to mathematics is handwriting. Handwriting fluency serves as a proxy for fine motor and domain-general cognitive functions (like executive functions) that are important for math fact fluency, yet handwriting carries very little domain-specific skill on its own. Handwriting can potentially be used to partial out the aspects of fact fluency that are not domain specific. In the current study, we tested the robustness of basic fact fluency in relation to general math fluency when accounting for handwriting. Third-grade students (N = 144) participated in the current study with measures of handwriting, basic fact fluency, and general math fluency taken at pretest prior to an intervention. We found that basic math fact fluency was a robust predictor of general math fluency across quantiles of the outcome distribution. Handwriting fluency did not improve model predictive performance beyond basic fact fluency. Limitations, as well as implications for future research and practice, are discussed.

In this study, we examined burst length and its relation with working memory, attentional control, transcription skills, discourse oral language, and writing quality, using data from English-speaking children in Grade 2 (N = 177; M[subscript age] = 7.19). Results from structural equation modeling showed that burst length was related to writing quality after accounting for transcription skills, discourse oral language, working memory, and attentional control. Burst length completely mediated the relations of attentional control and handwriting fluency to writing quality, whereas it partially mediated the relations of working memory and spelling to writing quality. Discourse oral language had a suppression effect on burst length but was positively and independently related to writing quality. Working memory had an indirect relation to burst length via transcription skills, whereas attentional control had a direct and indirect relation. These results suggest roles of domain-general cognitions and transcription skills in burst length, and reveal the nature of their relations to writing quality. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED618147.]

Education in Japan has drawn attention widely from overseas, including a quantity of research pointing out that the context of Japan's modernization and its present-day advanced science and technology can be found in the high literacy rates and prevalent education of Japanese society. However, there has been insufficient examination of the effect of high literacy rates in early modern society on everyday life. Pointing out that at the beginning of the early modern period, character formats, grammar, writing styles et cetera became used in common throughout the country, while the use of written text became compulsory as well, this paper asserts that the establishment of this lettered society was deeply involved with Japan's modernization.

The study investigated interactions between learner expertise and task complexity evaluated from both cognitive and affective perspectives. One hundred and seventy-three students, both novices and advanced learners, were asked to learn Japanese writing in a pen-tablet-based digital learning environment with varying task complexity levels. Cognitive load and learning-centred emotions were measured at intervals during learning, while writing performance was monitored by runtime tracking. Results indicated that while advanced learners performed better than novices across the range of task complexity, the moderate task complexity was shown to be superior in enhancing performance for both levels of expertise. Results for learning-centred emotions showed that advanced learners reported lower enjoyment and higher frustration when completing the low complexity task, whereas the moderately complex task was reported to be the most enjoyable and less frustrating for these learners. No significant difference in emotions was found across levels of task complexity for novices. Finally, a constructed composite indicator of cognitive-affective efficiency of instructional conditions showed a significant interaction between levels of learner expertise and task complexity primarily caused by affective factors.

Reading and writing rely on related foundational literacy skills (e.g., phonological processing, phonological memory, phonemic awareness). Therefore, students struggling with reading often have literacy difficulties that continue throughout their school years. However, lack of time and resources may make it difficult for schools to implement interventions for both reading and writing. Interventions that combine instruction for both skills may help to mitigate time and resource constraints. This paper reports the results of two pilot studies designed to examine the effectiveness of the Write Sounds integrated handwriting intervention for students with word-level deficits in reading and writing. Study 1 included 33 students struggling with handwriting and word-level reading or spelling difficulties in second and third grade. We randomly assigned participants to receive the Write Sounds intervention or a business-as-usual control. At posttest, students who received the Write Sounds intervention (n = 17) significantly outperformed the control group (n = 16) on researcher-created measures of handwriting quality and overall legibility. In study 2, three first-grade students who showed difficulty with reading, spelling, and phonemic awareness received instruction with Write Sounds. We implemented a multiple-baseline design. Results showed that Write Sounds increased participants' word reading abilities. Results of both studies suggest that Write Sounds showed promise of effectiveness. Limitations such as small sample sizes and the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the findings.

This study suggests a digital assessment tool - Smart Equation Exam System (SEED) - as a substitute for traditional multiple-choice and paper and pen exams. SEED includes a question bank, an answer platform, mathematical equations, and physics formulae. The novelty of SEED is that it allows all students with or without physical disabilities via creation of an equal and non-discriminatory platform to solve the physics questions step by step and submit all the solution steps as well as the final answer. The study population was composed of students enrolled in the General Physics (II) course at university level. The sample consisted of fifty students who were selected randomly. The results showed that more than eighty presents of the participants had a positive perception of SEED compared to traditional exams, and they found it more flexible in reviewing solution steps, and getting feedback, especially for the student with handwriting disabilities.

This article presents the application of the interactive dynamic literacy (IDL) model (Kim, 2020b) toward understanding difficulties in learning to read and write. According to the IDL model, reading and writing are part of communicative acts that draw on largely shared processes and skills as well as unique processes and skills. As such, reading and writing are dissociable but interdependent systems that have hierarchical, interactive, and dynamic relations. These key tenets of the IDL model are applied to the disruption of reading and writing development to explain co-occurrence of reading-writing difficulties using a single framework. The following hypotheses are presented: (a) co-occurrence between word reading and spelling and handwriting difficulties; (b) co-occurrence of dyslexia with written composition difficulties; (c) co-occurrence between reading comprehension and written composition difficulties; (d) co-occurrence of language difficulties with reading difficulties and writing difficulties; (e) co-occurrence of reading, writing, and language difficulties with weak domain-general skills or executive functions such as working memory and attentional control (including attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]); and (f) multiple pathways for reading and writing difficulties. Implications are discussed. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED618728.]

The aim of this study is to determine the metaphor perceptions of Generation Z teacher candidates towards handwriting and typing. Based on the metaphors obtained, elective courses related to handwriting may be included in undergraduate programs according to their point of view on handwriting. Many researches are carried out on the area created by the change that comes with the use of new technology. However, it is still necessary to ask new questions and seek answers. Therefore, in this study, according to the medium in which it is presented, whether in print or digital, how the nature of the content of the article changes according to the medium; what are the consequences of the superficialization of the content in terms of mental processes and what are the pre-service teachers' perspectives on handwriting. Study group of this research consists of 70 students among the Teacher Candidates in Istanbul in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 school year. For the data collection, a form with incomplete sentences such as "Handwriting is like... Because…" and "Keyboarding (typing) is like… Because…" was used to allow students to write down metaphors they attribute to "writing". Generation Z Teacher Candidates produced metaphors in the category of handwriting respectively the life (27.1%), thought and feelings (20%) attention and production (15.7%), skill (15.7%), functional (12.9%) and share/transfer (8.6%). Teacher Candidates produced metaphors in the category of keyboarding (typing) high level attention/production (24.3%), superficiality/forgery (21.4%), easy/effortless (17.1%), thought and feelings (12.9%), sound (10%), skill (8.6%) and future (5.7%). Teacher Candidates should provide content and environments that will increase the longing for handwriting in their students to create awareness of writing and make them feel the need for writing. The determination of the meanings attributed by the Generation Z Teacher Candidates to traditional writing and typing with keys, and the perspective of Teacher Candidates on this subject were discussed.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) for Math still use traditional data input methods: computers' keyboard and mouse. However, students usually solve math tasks using paper and pen. Therefore, the gap between the manner the students work and the requirements imposed by these typing-based systems expose students to an extraneous cognitive load, impairing their learning. Our study investigates the impact of the data input method on students' learning and fluency in solving equations using step-based math ITSs. More specifically, we have considered the standard typing and handwriting input methods. We hypothesized that the students would be more fluent using their handwriting with online recognition to solve math equations than using the typing input method. This fluency indicates a reduction in cognitive load, freeing working memory for logical reasoning instead of interface preconditions, leading to improved learning. We have conducted an experiment with 55 seventh-grade students from a private school to validate the hypothesis, randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Each group used one of the input methods on two different devices (desktop computers and tablets). Although students using handwriting solved more equations and were faster than students who typed their equations, we could not find statistically significant differences in the learning between students that used typing or handwriting. Additionally, we have found that the input method used in a not ideal device (e.g., handwriting with a computer's mouse instead of using a touch screen device) can negatively affect the students' performance.

The aim of this study was to examine the handwriting legibility and writing errors of first grade primary school students who were learning early literacy through distance education during the pandemic period, according to various variables. The research was designed according to the survey method, and the study group consisted of 211 students studying in the first grade of primary school. The "Multidimensional Legibility Scale", "Writing Errors Form", "Dictation Text" and "Copying Text" were used as data collection tools in the research. For the analysis of the research data, the legibility of the first grade primary school students' handwriting was analysed according to the "Multidimensional Legibility" scale. According to the results of the research, female students wrote more legibly than male students. Students made more writing errors in the dictation writing task than in the copying writing task. Students at state schools made more errors in their writing than students at private schools. Considering that the distance education process will also be a part of education life in later periods, research studies on the adequacy of the distance education process for fostering basic skills can be included in order to advance this process more beneficially, especially in primary school. The effect of distance education on handwriting legibility and writing errors at other grade levels can be investigated. Within the framework of the results obtained, different activities can be designed for writing skills in distance education.

The aim of this study was to improve the reading and writing performance and reading motivation of a third grade primary school student who does not have any cognitive or physical disabilities. In the study conducted by the action research method, one of the qualitative research methods, the student's reading and writing performance and reading motivation were evaluated by scales. While fluent reading strategies were used to improve the student's reading performance, the strategy of identifying the main idea at the sentence level was used to improve his reading comprehension skills. On the other hand, the programmed instruction approach was adopted to improve the student's writing skills. At the end of the study, there was an improvement in the student's word recognition level, reading speed, comprehension percentage and reading motivation. While planning support programs for students with reading and writing problems, it is recommended that it is necessary to decide whether to develop both skills together or only one skill by considering the intensity of the students' needs and that reading books prepared for students should consist of stories short enough to end in one reading.

Many college students believe that typing lecture notes on computers produces better notes and higher achievement than handwritten lecture notes on paper. The few studies investigating computer versus longhand note taking yielded mixed note-taking and achievement findings. The present study investigated computer versus longhand note taking but permitted note takers to revise or recopy notes during pauses interspersed throughout the lecture. Moreover, the present study analyzed notes recorded while a lecture was ongoing and following revision pauses to determine if lecture ideas and images were recorded completely or partially. Findings did not support the belief that computers aid note taking and achievement and, instead, favored longhand note taking and revision. Computer and longhand note takers recorded a comparable number of complete and partial ideas in notes while the lecture was ongoing, but longhand note takers recorded more lecture images. Among note revisers, longhand note takers added three-times-as-many complete ideas to their notes during revision as computer note takers--an important finding because note completeness predicted achievement. Achievement results showed that longhand note takers who revised notes scored more than half a letter grade higher on a lecture posttest than computer note takers who revised notes. Present findings suggest that college instructors should provide students with revision pauses to improve note taking and achievement and encourage students to record and revise notes using the longhand method. Finally, regarding the computer versus longhand note-taking debate, the need to investigate further the interplay between note-taking medium and lesson material is discussed.

Often considered an enhancement to the learning experience, technology can also stifle creativity and higher levels of thinking. This study repositions students away from technology and back to the basics to stimulate engagement and higher levels of learning. It investigates the relationship between learning outcomes and the reflective journaling process in the context of an undergraduate marketing class in the United States. In addition, this study investigates a technique in which students are introduced to topics that are sensitive in nature, yet relevant to the real world. Although reflective journaling has been utilized in courses in areas such as educational psychology and social work, it has not been widely practiced in business courses such as marketing. Through the lens of Bloom's Taxonomy, we qualitatively analyze handwritten reflective journaling assignments about loneliness and social media to determine how the process highlights higher levels of learning. The opportunity to use handwritten journals provided a unique learning experience and a hands-on approach to allow marketing students to experience learning in a new light.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the move by governments worldwide to cancel in-class instruction and move to emergency remote instruction in March and April of 2020 created an unprecedented disruption in children's education. As the COVID-19 pandemic took form and continued to impact education in the following 2020/2021 academic year, multiple concerns were raised about possible negative effects on students' learning. The current longitudinal replication study examined this proposition for second-grade students in Norway. In a previous investigation (Skar et al. Journal of Educational Psychology 114:1553-1566, 2022), we found that scores for quality of writing, handwriting fluency, and attitude toward writing of first-grade children tested immediately after emergency remote instruction ended in the Spring of 2020 (During COVID-19 cohort) were lower than the scores of first-grade students from the same schools tested a year earlier before the start of the pandemic (Before COVID-19 cohort). In the present study, we compared the scores for the During COVID-19 cohort (333 girls, 308 boys) on these same writing measures 1 year later at the end of second grade to a During COVID-19 cohort of second-graders (888 girls, 780 boys) from the same schools tested 2 years earlier before the start of the pandemic. The initial negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on first-grade students' writing observed by Skar et al. (Journal of Educational Psychology 114:1553-1566, 2022) was no longer evident 1 year later at the end of second grade in the current study.

Emotion and focus of children during handwriting are essential for language learning. Handwriting for young children is challenging because it needs deep motivation and willingness to complete the task regardless of its difficulty. Recently, emerged haptic guidance systems have a good potential to offer children a better sense of engagement to keep their interests awake. Yet, handwriting in 3D is more challenging for children due to many reasons including demotivation, out of focus, and visuomotor coordination difficulties. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of a haptic device in analyzing schoolchildren emotion, attentiveness and handwriting performance of Arabic letters. We conducted the experiments for a period of four weeks with an immersive environment where the subjects practiced writing in VR environment using a haptic device-controlled stylus. We assessed the childrens' emotions to get insights into their engagement during such hard learning environment. We found that our approach improved the participants' fine-motor skills and handwriting quality. However, our analysis revealed that such task was effective on detecting emotions (angry/neutral) only as a negative/positive contributor of performance. Overall, the obtained findings can well contribute to the understanding of the relationship between students' emotions and other variables in an attempt to support the development of adaptive learning technologies.

Integration of cognitive, sensory, and motoric processes is essential for the production of handwriting, however, challenging for children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The objective of this scoping review is to identify potential underlying mechanisms of handwriting of children and youth with ASD by reviewing cognitive, sensory, and motoric body functions as predictors of their handwriting. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health -- Children and Youth version was used to structure the analysis. Eleven studies (0.9%) met inclusion criteria. Results show that linguistic functions, psychomotor functions, motor control functions, and motor reflex functions predict handwriting of children and youth with ASD. This suggests these body functions are underlying mechanisms of handwriting of children and youth with ASD, encouraging future research to test these body functions as potential pathways to handwriting intervention for children and youth with ASD. Findings suggest a bottom-up approach to the development of handwriting interventions for children and youth with ASD.

This study described the features of writing instruction in widely used kindergarten English Language Arts programs and examined their alignment with evidence-based, best-practice guidelines. Three popular curricula were selected for analyses: Reading Wonders, Journeys, and Reading Street. Our coding of teacher manuals focused on instructional provisions for composing, spelling, and handwriting in key instructional sections within each curriculum: (1) genre writing, (2) grammar, and (3) reading instruction. Lessons for coding were sampled from the beginning, middle, and end of each program, comprising 12 weeks of instruction. Results indicated that, although variable across curricula, there were several features of writing instruction that aligned with evidence-based guidelines. All curricula included daily writing lessons and activities, along with provisions for teaching the writing process and basic writing skills (i.e., sentence construction, spelling, handwriting). However, instruction in basic writing skills were often isolated and support for these skills was rarely embedded within the context of children's own written compositions. In addition, children had relatively less opportunities to independently write their own compositions in genre writing compared to teacher modeling writing or using shared writing. Results of this study could inform efforts to revise or develop curricula to better facilitate the writing development of kindergartners.

Handwriting is a key occupation for school-aged children and one of the common reasons for referral to a school-based occupational therapist. There are many interventions offered by school-based occupational therapists and this scoping review aimed to examine specific intervention approaches and compare their mode of service delivery (i.e., direct and/or indirect), recommended dosage (i.e., frequency and duration), embedded theoretical frameworks, and identify if the intervention caused statistically significant changes in a child's handwriting ability. Eight (8) studies were reviewed (seven Level III; one Level V) identified through a comprehensive database search. Of the eight studies that met the inclusion criteria, five were curriculum-based programs, all of which incorporated task-specific motor learning approaches and showed statistically significant improvement in handwriting (both direct and indirect OT involvement). Two studies reviewed devices (iPad and weighted pencil) and one study did not involve performing handwriting during treatment sessions. The studies reviewing the use of devices and the study where task-specific handwriting was not completed in treatment sessions did not demonstrate statistically significant benefit on improving a child's handwriting ability. Curriculum-based interventions that have an embedded motor learning practice component, with either direct or indirect involvement from occupational therapy, may have a positive impact on a student's handwriting ability; however, more rigorous studies need to be completed. The use of devices (i.e., iPad & weighted pencils) to improve handwriting is not currently supported in the literature.

The objectives of this study are to analyze the factors of handwriting difficulties among children, the intervention strategies for handwriting problems, and the need to develop a handwriting intervention guideline for occupational therapists in the Malaysian context. The research employed individual semi-structured interviews with seven participants who offered three different sets of experiences and viewpoints, namely, the remedial school teachers', occupational therapists', and parents' perspectives. A qualitative analysis approach was utilized. Thematic analysis was applied by using an inductive approach for open-ended questions in interviews. The results were presented according to research objectives. Five themes emerged to address the factors of handwriting issues among school children. The factors are motor skills deficiency, poor motor visual skills, lack of parental support, low self-motivation, and handwriting difficulties. Four themes were derived for intervention strategies to cater for handwriting problems among school children. The themes have an emphasis on developing motor skills, increasing motor visual activities, engaging occupational therapy components, and enabling active participation from parents and teachers. Finally, there is a crucial need to produce a guideline for handwriting intervention in order to improve children's potential in handwriting skills, to provide a comprehensive guide for occupational therapists, teachers, and parents and to align practice in handwriting intervention. This study provides understanding of the factors of handwriting problem among school children and allows suitable intervention programs. Therefore, the need to develop a systematic guideline in handwriting intervention is significant, in that it would benefit the teachers, occupational therapists, and parents in the Malaysian context.

Online teaching has come to play an increasingly important role in higher education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being unable to be on campus with face-to-face teaching can be challenging. This article provides a possible option of how first-year engineering students at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) adapt to mastering higher mathematics. The purpose of the research is to see whether a more 'face to face' experienced online teaching technological method will have a positive impact on student engagement, as well as exam performance. We refer to this new method as 'TeachUs' in this paper for the sake of convenience. This method gives eye contact experience for the students, which has been shown to improve engagement. The surveys of the student groups confirmed the preference of this teaching method as compared to conventional screen sharing methods.

Purpose: Despite abundant evidence that morphemes are important in reading and spelling, little is known about the nature of processing in spelling. This study identifies multiple morphological processes over the time course of spelling, revealing that these processes are influenced by development. Method: Twenty adults and 46 children (8;0-12;1 years) completed an auditory lexical decision task followed by a spelling task, to explore the effects of morphological structure and cross-modal morphological priming by analyzing handwriting latencies before and during spelling production. Results: Adults and children both demonstrated morphological processing during lexical access -- they were faster to begin to write morphologically complex words (e.g., artist) compared to matched monomorphemic controls (e.g., article). Adults (but not children) also demonstrated cross-modal morphological priming. Further, adults (but not children) demonstrated the effects of morphological processing during spelling production. Inter-letter latencies were shorter between the last two letters of a root morpheme than the same letters in monomorphemic control words (e.g., ar[]tist compared to ar[]ticle). Conclusion: Together, these findings reflect multiple facilitative effects of morphological processing during spelling production -- during lexical access and spelling production. This highlights the need for greater integration of morphological processes into theories of skilled spelling and spelling development.

The purpose of this study was to describe how experienced emergent writing teachers supported 4-year-olds in writing their own messages during the learning centers period of the preschool day. Data were drawn from two, year-long qualitative studies of early writing instruction. Adult participants were three researcher-teachers who worked in publicly funded prekindergarten classrooms 1 or 2 days per week across a school year. A sample of six open-ended, researcher-child writing events were selected and microanalyzed using the constant/comparative method and multimodal interaction analysis. Results showed that more than a fourth of adult message units were produced in conversations occurring "off the page" aimed at developing a shared, meaningful topic for writing. Drawing was used as a platform for developing ideas and as a launch for page-based composing. Adults wrote their own texts alongside children as a means of engaging children as co-authors and providing demonstrations of adult writing. Adults frequently invited children to write messages related to their play and activity, and then asked them to read their writing. They provided direct support for writing processes. Support for children's phonetic spelling was most frequent, followed by support for writing concepts. Handwriting support was provided infrequently. Adults praised all attempts at writing, regardless of the conventionality of the product. Findings provide an empirical description of how adults can support early writing in the context of informal learning center events.

The teaching and learning of Chinese remains a fragile undertaking across all stages of Australian schooling. This paper reports on a practitioner inquiry into pedagogic practices and student engagement with disadvantaged primary school students in a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) classroom in Sydney, Australia. Drawing upon studies of affect as well as the Fair Go Project's theoretical framework concerning student engagement, the research explores how 'difficult' Chinese knowledge and pedagogies of discomfort disrupt social norms and practices. The engagement of students is conceptualised as an interplay of highly affective, highly cognitive and highly operative learning experiences. In this paper, we argue that 'discomforting' emotions evoked by curricular and pedagogic approaches can influence significant change and foster curiosity for CFL education. The paper concludes with a consideration of pedagogic implications for foreign language education and possibilities for future research.

Copying a text quickly and accurately is important both in school and in daily life. However, this skill has never been systematically studied, either in children with typical development (TD) or in children with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The aim of this research was to study the features of a copy task and its relationship with other writing tasks. For this purpose, 674 children with TD and 65 children with SLD from Grades 6 through 8 in Italy were tested with a copy task and other writing assessment tasks, measuring three aspects of writing: handwriting speed, spelling, and expressive writing. Children with SLD performed worse on the copy task, both in terms of speed and accuracy, than children with TD. Copy speed was predicted by grade level and by all three major writing skills for children with TD but only by handwriting speed and spelling for children with SLD. Copy accuracy was predicted by gender and the three major writing skills for children with TD but only by spelling for children with SLD. These results suggest that children with SLD also have difficulty copying a text and benefit less than children with TD from their other writing skills.

This paper presents an analysis of a hundred and one handwritten essays by master students in Informatics. The students reflected on their experiences of working with pen and paper for reading and writing as a mandatory assignment for the duration of a five-week intensive course. Taking an inductive approach, reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify patterns of meaning across the full dataset. The essays elicited insightful student reflections on learning, knowing, and being. One overarching theme, New connections, and four sub-theses were identified: Handwriting as note making, Being present for learning, Freedom to think, and Materiality of reading and writing. This study contributes to an improved understanding of the affordances of paper and laptops in the lecture room, based on a student-centred approach, and reflects on how student perspectives can be implemented during lectures.

Imitation is a crucial process for learning and brain development. It is based on the mirror neuron mechanism and underlies our understanding of actions and the gestures of others. Some researchers hypothesized a possible correlation between a low functioning mirror neuron system (MNS) and developmental coordination disorder, including dysgraphic deficit. However, no studies have verified whether imitation of graphic gestures by exploiting the properties of the MNS could improve handwriting. This study evaluates the effects of imitation training of handwriting in five children with handwriting difficulties aged 8 to 10 years. The training lasted for five months, and was undertaken three times a week, for a total number of 60 sessions for each child. Before and after the training, we evaluated the degree of handwriting impairment using the Concise Evaluation Scale for Children's Handwriting (BHK). Our results suggest that handwriting imitation training produced a significant qualitative change in the children's writing, likely due to exercises that stimulated fine motor imitation. Furthermore, the imitation also involved ergonomic and biomechanical aspects relevant to improving imitative writing after observing the model. Each child has therefore reached an adequate level of writing, suggesting the effectiveness of the proposed intervention.

Bansho (Japanese board writing) is becoming an area of interest among researchers and educators as it could serve as an asset to make a searching inquiry into teaching. This study aims to identify the variations of bansho styles in Japanese schools and draws its data from 10 lessons from a primary school in Japan. All lesson observations were recorded, photographed, and then analyzed. Results of data analysis suggest that there is a variation of bansho styles, which indicates the kind of teaching happening in the classroom, and it relates to the teacher's beliefs and the type of knowledge valued in the lesson.

Researchers utilized a cross-sectional secondary analysis of data within an ongoing non-randomized controlled trial study design to establish the reliability and internal consistency of a novel handwriting assessment for preschoolers, the Just Write! (JW), written by the authors. Seventy-eight children from an area preschool participated in the study by completing the JW and the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI). The results indicate the JW can be reliably scored by novice and experienced practitioners. The results also indicate that grasp is not correlated with writing ability, and point toward developmental implications with upper and lower case writing. In addition, the authors provide the JW as an appendix to aide interested practitioners and researchers.